Tamatsu Maru was a World War II Japanese landing craft depot ship[2] completed in January 1944[3] and remembered for the heavy loss of life when sunk by USS Spadefish[2] on 19 August 1944. Between 4,406 and 4,755 Japanese soldiers and seamen drowned.[4]
Early history
Tamatsu Maru was laid down at Mitsui Shipbuilding on 4 November 1942, launched on 18 August 1943, and completed on 20 January 1944. Its first military loading was from Moji to Manila with convoy Hi-45 in February 1944. It returned to Japan in March to transport elements of the 30th Infantry Division of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) from Pusan to the Philippines with convoy Hi-63 in May. It returned to Japan with convoy Hi-62 in early June to transport the IJA 5th Field Heavy Artillery and 58th Independent Mixed Brigade to the Philippines with convoy MOMA-01 in July. It returned to Japan in early August with convoy Hi-68.[3]
Loss
Tamatsu Maru departed Pusan on 8 August 1944 carrying the Japanese 2nd Battalion and regimental headquarters of the 13th Independent Infantry Regiment from Korea for defense of the Philippines. It joined convoy Hi-71 departing Moji on 10 August, and stopping at the Mako naval base in the Pescadores on 15 August. Convoy Hi-71 departed Mako on 17 August[3] and was discovered by USS Redfish that evening. Redfish assembled other submarines for a radar-guided wolfpack attack on the evening of 18 August in heavy rain.[5]
As the convoy was scattered by heavy seas and evasive maneuvers, Tamatsu Maru apparently became separated from convoy escorts. On 19 August, around 03:30, Spadefish found Tamatsu Maru on a northerly course[5] and fired a salvo of six torpedoes. Spadefish heard two torpedoes hit. Convoy escorts were unaware of the ship's location (17°34′N 119°24′E / 17.567°N 119.400°E) until one of them discovered thousands of floating bodies that afternoon.[3] The sinking of Tamatsu Maru was the fourth worst loss of life on any Japanese vessel during the war taking down 4,755 troops and 135 merchant seamen.[6]
See also
Notes
- ^ Hackett, Bob; Cundall, Peter (January 2011). "IJA Landing Craft Depot Ships". Combined Fleet.
- ^ a b Cressman, p. 248
- ^ a b c d Hackett, Bob; Cundall, Peter (2011). "IJA Landing Craft Depot Ship Tamatsu Maru: Tabular Record of Movement". Combined Fleet.
- ^ "Convoy Hi-71 (ヒ71船団)" (PDF). All Japan Seamen's Union. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ a b Blair, pp. 676–680
- ^ "Japanese Landing Craft Depot Ships". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
Sources
- Blair, Clay (1975). Silent Victory. New York: J.B. Lippincott Company. ISBN 9780397007530.
- Cressman, Robert J. (2000). The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Washington, D.C.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-149-1.
- "Tamatsu Maru (+1944)". WreckSite. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
18°49′N 119°47′E / 18.817°N 119.783°E
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